Barter

tAhgbZ

LORD MORPETH'S REMARKS

((

THE TRACTS FOR TMIT'^TIMES"

CONSIDERED.

REV. WILLIAM BR,UDB«LL BARTER,

RECTOR OF HIGHCLMlEj
AND LATE FELLOW OI^OrJj

KGHCLERE,
tLEGE, OXFORD.

SECOND fiBfriON,

WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES
On the Reformation Principles of " The
Tracts for the Times" and their Op
ponents.

On Mr. Cecil's Reserve in communicating
Religious Knowledge.
The Author's View of Reserve.

On Mr. Cecil's holding the same Opinions
with Dr.Fusey and the Primitive Church,
as to the Celibacy of tlie Clergy.
On Froude's Remains.
On the Apostolical Fathers.
On the Prospects of The " Tracts for the
Times," &c. &c.

' Judge not according to the appearance, hut judge righteous judgment." — John vii. 24.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON,
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD,
AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL.

1841.

Extract from The Times, March 6th, 1841.
" No man, however widely differing from them, can open any of their
publications, without perceiving that they write with learning, ability,
calmness, seriousness, command of temper, a strong sense of responsi
bility, forbearance, and courtesy of language towards their adversaries.
No man can know anything of their lives without being aware that they
act consistently with their profession ; that they are more than usually
strict, circumspect, self-denying, and (as far as man can judge by out
ward demeanour) pious. The most respectable of their opponents in
controversy have borne free and generous testimony to their merits in
these respects. Such antagonists never, even for a moment, expressed
or felt the smallest doubt, that the men with whom they had to deal
were sincerely attached to the Church of England, firmly persuaded that
their doctrine was identical with hers, and utterly incapable of deU
berately violating their oaths. No calumny, we are satisfied, was ever
more unmerited than this, which easts upon men, who are peculiarly
zealous for ecclesiastical authority, (and who are maligned for being so,)
the imputation of disregarding it in practice. They were not ' Puseyites'
who contended for the abolition of the Thirty-nine Articles in our uni
versities. They were not ' Puseyites' who, in 1 833, made the press teem
with pamphlets in favour of changes in the Prayer Book. They are not
' Puseyites' who, having sworn to obey the Rubric, depart from it as
often as they think proper in the celebration of Divine Service. They
are not ' Puseyites' who alter or leave out such expressions as do not
suit their notions in the offices of Burial and Baptism. But men who
do these things, together with the organs of that political party wliich
has abetted all the attacks of dissent upon the Church of England, accuse
men, who do them not, of unfaithfulness to the Church : and politicians,
whose whole life has been devoted to the advancement of Popery in this
kingdom, cry out ' No Popery !' with the loudest, if an Oxford clergyman
dares to suggest that the Church of Rome, though corrupt, may possibly
not be Antichrist, or ventures to breathe a prayer for the restoration of
Christian miity throughout the world."
This extract was first seen by the author of the following letter in the
Conservative Journal ; and he gladly takes this opportunity of thanking
the Editor (whose name is unknown to him) for the kind and encourag
ing manner in which he first gave the publication a place in his columns.

LETTER

THE EDITOR OF THE "TIMES.'^

Believing that the Authors of the "Tracts for
the Times" are the authors also of an increasing
reverence among us for our Church as a divine
institution, and believing that in times of danger
they have made known to us the real strength
of her position, and the only legitimate means
by which she may be defended, I am not sur
prised that unlearned and unstable men should
have attacked them in the worst spirit of religious
controversy. Such opponents, however, might
safely be disregarded, and permitted, without a
comment, to persevere in their violent and con
tradictory accusations. But it seems to me, that
any among us who feel gratitude to these men
for their exertions in our sacred cause, do well to
state their reasons for this feeling with firmness and
a2

moderation, when the same charges are advanced
by men of piety and acknowledged talent.
I have read with much pleasure, remarks made
in the " Times" on Lord Morpeth's speech. What
is there said, on the hostility manifested by some
members of our Church, to the Book of Common
Prayer, touches a chord, to which my feelings
so completely respond, that I cannot but hope
you will not decline giving to the few remarks
which I shall make the benefit of your extensive
circulation. With regard to the attack which his Lordship
has thought fit to make on the University of
Oxford; if he considers the matter impartially, he
must be convinced that the University of Oxford
is not more answerable for the publication of the
" Tracts for the Times," than for the publication of
the able speeches which he delivers in the House
of Commons. It would be hard measure to call
that venerable seat of learning to account for
every production of those who have had the
benefit of its instructions. As to the tendency of
the doctrines advanced in the " Tracts for the
Times" to Popery, his Lordship would see imme
diately, if he gave any attention to the matter,
that men who professed precisely the same prin
ciples in their day, are among the most able
defenders of our Church, against the errors and

encroachments of that corrupt system of Chris
tianity; and that the names of many such may
be found in the list of those who, in the time of
James the Second, perilled their liberties and
lives, by putting themselves in the first rank of
its opponents. But I am not surprised that Lord
Morpeth has fallen into this mistake. The same
error has been committed by many men of high
talent and station in our Church, who have also
gone farther, and have ventured to enter into
controversy with these men, without fully com
prehending the nature of the principles which
they have attempted to beat down.
The most popular charges which are brought
against the writers of the " Tracts for the Times,"
are these : a desire to set up a new system of
doctrine in our Church, and to put aside the prin
ciples of the Protestant Reformation. I will say as
few words as possible on each of these subjects.
The first of these charges is, an attempt to set
up a new system of Christian doctrine in this
country ; as if the men who write in these pub
lications were now for the first time disclosing
a system hitherto wholly unheard of, aud, in
fact, the offspring of their own imaginations.
Now the truth is, they have never endeavoured to
recommend a single opinion or doctrine of their
own ; they have attempted to turn the attention

of their brethren solely to the pure creed of the
primitive Church of Christ.
To their innocence in this respect, their ene
mies themselves bear witness; the most able of
whom has allowed, (as every one must who does
not shut his eyes to the truth,) that the doctrines
they advocate are the doctrines of primitive
Christianity. So much for the novelty of their
creed. Then, as to their setting aside the prin
ciples of the Protestant Reformation, or disarm
ing them, as it has been said, of their poignancy
and eflScacy, on account of which, every sincere
friend of that Reformation has been called upon
openly to declare his dissent from these doctrines,
the following I consider a satisfactory answer: —
The "principles ofthe Protestant Reformation,"
is a wide term, almost as wide as that of the
" Protestant Religion ;" it may mean anything or
nothing ; but the true, the avowed principle of the
Protestant Reformation in the English Church, was
nothing else but io restore the doctrine ofthe primitive
Church of Christ^, purified from Romish corrup-
' God marked out the lines of this building, and He has
transmitted to us the model through the hands of the blame
less, vigilant, and sober men, who held the traditions they had
been taught, as well as the mystery of faith, in a good con
science. Divers other plans have been devised hy men, and
some of fair proportions, so as to seduce, if it were possible,

tions. This was the only principle of reform
ation professed by Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley,
and this principle is the all-pervading one of the
"Tracts for the Times;" so that were the real
friends of the Protestant Reformation to declare
their dissent from these doctrines, they would
make a desperate and very unwise attack upon
themselves, and their own tenets.
But, it may be asked, if the writers ofthe "Tracts
for the Times" are pure in doctrine, and blameless
and harmless, why is so loud a voice raised against
them ? Why are grave men in authority, period
icals of conflicting religious opinions, newspapers
without number, unwearied in their attacks; some
with more polished weapons, others with coarser
arms, " stipitibus sudibusque prseustis," of vulgar
and coarse abuse ^ ? A plain answer is this, be-
even the elect. Many of them, however, have already failed,
and all in time will fail, for to human inventions no power is
given to withstand the destructive energy of human caprice.
They come to end in succession through the dissensions of
their own contrivers, and tell us, if we would but hear, that
they fall by the decree of Him who changeth not, and who
thus defeated the first design of raising a building, against his
will, whose top should reach to heaven.
* " There is not a particle of true intellectual vigor or man
hood or candour in his whole sect." It is the " Standard" that
condescends to write thus. The Morning " Herald" is persever
ing in abuse and misrepresentation. The " Observer" also, which

cause these men have put themselves forward as
defenders of the fortress of the Church of Eng
land — the Book of Common Prayer, and the
principle on which it was compiled, namely, that
of deference to primitive tradition. It is for
this book, and not for these men, that I fear; let
them be trampled under foot, let them be accused
of favouring errors which their soul abhors. Was
not their Master crucified for aiming at the
government of a petty province, when He refused
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of
them ? To suffer under false accusations is a se
vere trial, but they may support it with Christian
patience, and great will be their reward in
heaven : but this I know, that if they are beaten
does not call itself Christian, and almost all the papers whose
province it is to circulate the news of the day. The editors of
the " Record," the " Christian Observer," the " Congregational
Magazine," and other avowedly religious publications of that
class, too numerous to recount, have continually filled their
columns with railings of a still lower kind, have, as it were,
come together for this end, and have ceased not. Thus, while
they have gained the applause of violent partisans, they have
diminished considerably their infiuence with the religious
portion of their readers, by proving that whoever may be in
the wrong, they cannot be altogether in the right. But the
consciousness that their violence has had this effect, does not
appear to make them adopt a more mild, more charitable, and
more Christian tone towards these men ; but renders them, I
fear, on the contrary, more exceedingly mad against them.

down, their adversaries will have gained no vic
tory while the Book of Common Prayer remains
unmutilated. In that book, the principles of the
primitive Church must circulate widely through
the land ; the congregations of the Church of
England must still address their God in the
words, and in the spirit, of the primitive Church
of Christ. In those prayers, — in the forms of
Baptism, of Burial, and the rite of Confirmation, of
Ordaining Deacons and Priests, — they must find
the main doctrines of the " Tracts for the Times"
set forth in as plain terms as the wisdom of man
could devise; and in the Catechism, in which,
(if they act honestly,) they are bound to instruct
their children, they will find not a word to favour
the modern gloss on the doctrine of Justification
by Faith ^ but the whole in perfect harmony with
that doctrine as held by the primitive Church of
Christ. Would that all who love this sacred
deposit read the history of former times, and
judged by the perils it has escaped of its present
danger. When Laud was beheaded, there would
have been no triumph to the Independent prin
ciple, had not, on the same day, the use of
the Book of Common Prayer ceased throughout
the land. Then, indeed, it gained a short-lived
victory. ' Vide Note I.

Let us consider for a moment the state of
the Church of England, when these Tracts were
first published. Independent principles had for
a long time silently gained ground within its
pale. The Liturgy, and especially the Church
Services, were in many instances mutilated, ac
cording to the caprice of those who, though
Independents in principle, had become inconsistent
ministers of the Church of England. The Cate
chism was frequently discarded from schools,
superintended by the Clergy of our Church, as
unfit for the instruction of children in the doc
trines of Christianity. Curtailments in the Morn
ing and Evening Services of our Church, and
alterations in our Creeds, were spoken of with as
much freedom, as men would discuss alterations
in the shape of a garment, in order to meet the
varying fashion of the present hour. Publications,
in which the tenets of Calvin and John Knox
could only be sincerely maintained, (for the authors
professed their creed, and were not of our com
munion,) had crept into the families of many
pious Churchmen, and if they had done nothing
worse, had lessened their reverence for the real
and characteristic doctrines of the Church of
England. A powerful union was effected between
men of different creeds for the purpose of religious
instruction, who could not agree in interpreting

11

the last words of the Redeemer's last command,
therefore tracts were circulated by thousands to
propagate a modern system of Christianity, from
which all mention of the Sacrament of Baptism was
excluded, as a subject not of sufficient importance to
demand attention. And although such things were
done avowedly under the sanction, and by the aid
of ministers of our Church, no authoritative voice
was lifted up to check the evil *.
In the mean time. Popery was numbering her
converts by thousands in our land ; and notwith
standing the examples of America and Scotland,
in which the increase was proportionably greater,
it was attributed to the want of lively reformation
principles, with the same truth as some mediciners
of the present day attribute the bad health of their
patients to not imbibing a sufficient quantity of
their noxious specifics. Nor was this all the
* Mr. Newman, in his truly Christian letter to Dr. Jelf,
has added to this list, and not without cause has expressed his
surprise that men who in years past and present have borne
patiently disclaimers of belief in many of ihe Scripture mira
cles, — " Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas," —
should be alarmed so much when a private member of
the university makes statements in an opposite direction.
Such a charge of unfairness as this is the stronger for the mild
tone in which it is advanced, and can scarcely remain un
answered or unconfessed, if the men against whom it is
brought seriously call to mind by whom they are required to
" do justly."

danger; the Clergy of the Church of England
were unarmed, the dissenters claimed the victory
when opposed on principles falsely termed Evan
gelical, and claimed it with justice, and the right
cause was on the point of being overborne by the
number and violence of its assailants. The Book
of Common Prayer stood alone in the midst of
the troubled waters. It stood a beautiful fortress
of the olden time ; but as it was constructed as if
in perfect contempt of the rules of modern art, its
mutilation or destruction was contemplated as an
easy task, to be completed at leisure, whenever its
enemies might agree on the style of building they
would wish to raise in its stead. It was at this
juncture that God raised up pious and learned
men in its defence, and the firmness of the rock
on which they built their outwork may be known
by the foam of the waters which have dashed
against it, and the violence of their recoil. So far
then from exhorting my younger brethren of the
Clergy not to meet these men fairly in argument ^
(advice which has emanated indeed from a very
high and liberaP quarter), so far from advising
them a dogged adherence to their own opinions, I
would call on them to inquire diligently whether
these men are employed in vindicating the doc-
' Vide Note VIII.
" I wish the word ' liberal' to be taken in its best sense.

13

trines of Scripture and of primitive Christianity ;
and if they find it to be so, to defend, not these
men, who are subject to error, but the faith they
profess, which was delivered to the Saints, and is
treasured in the Holy Catholic Church. Above
all, I would exhort them not to meddle with them
who are given to change.
If one of Raphael's tablets were in your pos
session (I would ask them), how would you act ?
Would you venture to re-touch, or to re-paint it ' ?
' A desire to restore what has been obscured by the effect
of time on the one hand, or to retouch and repaint on the
other, are expressions which appear to me to illustrate, in a
few words, the diiferent feelings by which the authors of the
" Tracts for the Times" and their opponents are respectively
distinguished as to reformations in the Liturgy and Services,
as well as generally in the doctrine and discipline of the
Anglican Church.
The former, indeed, estimate highly her latent energies,
and deplore what they consider her comparative weakness.
They ardently desire to see her assert the sacred powers with
which she is invested, and come forth among the nations in
her primitive simplicity and strength. This desire they ex
press in strong and uncompromising terms. They disclaim,
however, the slightest wish for change as a party measure, and
would only advise it when called for by the universal voice of
the Church itself. Surely therefore it is idle to speak of
such men as the probable source of innovations, which both
history and recent experience teach us to expect from a very
different quarter.

Would it not rather be your care, if it were possi
ble, to cleanse it from all stains, to bring out the
beauties that had been obscured by the effect of
time, and to restore every tint of the glorious
original. And will you treat the sacred deposit of catholic
Truth, committed to your charge, with less re
verence? God forbid. Oh guard it from those
who would not hesitate to daub the sacred relic
with the coarse colouring of modern art ; suffer
not Geneva cloaks to be substituted for its grace
ful and flowing draperies. Take your side with
the martyr Church, and if the memory of her ear
liest Saints, who cannot be disturbed in their place
of rest, be assailed with the grossest ribaldry, is it
not plain that the same spirit is at work, which
opposed that holy army 1700 years ago ; and that
it should be met, on our part as it was on theirs,
with an entire devotion to the cause of primi
tive Christianity ?
W. BRUDENELL BARTER.

POSTSCRIPT.
I write against the spirit in which the
" Tracts for the Times" are opposed : I do not
agree with all the opinions advanced in those
writings, especially on the subjects of sin after
baptism, and reserve in communicating religious
knowledge. Divines, however, who prefer the
authority of the pious and eloquent Mr. Cecil, to
that of the Fathers of our Church, the friends and
companions of the Apostles, should recollect that
he acted precisely on this principle of reserve when
he first entered on his ministry in St. John's
Chapel *. Dr. Platt, his biographer, when he men
tions this fact, says, that " the religious part of his
auditory, not comprehending his aim, were ready
to pronounce on his plan, as shunning to declare
the whole counsel of God. Yet he was wisely
following the example of his Master, in delivering
the truth, as they who heard were able to bear
it : and thus forming a lodgment in their minds,
and preparing them for the full display of all the
doctrines of the Gospel." Those, therefore, who
profess to hold Mr. Cecil in high esteem, might,
on this point, consistently abstain from any very
violent denunciation of the "Tracts for the
Times." ' Vide Note III.

NOTES.

Note I.
ON JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
It is not my intention to enter on a discussion of the
doctrine of Justification by Faith further than is neces
sary to explain what I mean by the modern gloss on that
doctrine. The Epistle of St. James was a stumbling-
block to Luther, and has continued to be so to Divines
of a certain class in our day, for this reason, that they
have taken a false view of the subject, and are now con
stantly endeavouring to bend the text of Scripture to
their creed. The method most approved at present for
this purpose, is, to declare that there are two kinds of
Justification, one in the sight of men, and the other in
the sight of God ; and that St. James, when he says,
we are justified by works, means, that we are justified in
the sight of men only. This is the false gloss on the
doctrine to which I allude, and to this misinterpretation
of Scripture, I am sorry to say that Mr. Faber has lately
given the sanction of his venerable name. Now, St.
James throughout his Epistle alludes solely to justifica
tion in the sight of God. He argues against faith as a
feeling, or a profession, or anything but a principle of
action, and declares it to be dead without works ; that is

17

having no justifying efficacy at aU. " What does it profit,
my brethren, if a man say, I have faith and have not
works ; can faith save him V
Salvation and Justification in the sight of men have
no connection whatever with each other. The truth is,
(if factious disputants could but see it,) that neither faith
nor works justify, save as they unite us to Christ ; it is
He that justifieth, and through Him alone that we obtain
pardon and acceptance. The man who considers himself
justified by his faith, save as it contributes to this union,
is as self-righteous as he who considers himself justified
by his works; and that he speaks scripturally, who says he
is justified by faithful obedience, so far as it strengthens
and cements this union, is plain from the teaching of all
the inspired writers, as well as from that of Christ Himself.
He traces every benefit conferred on us by God to this
union, tells us that without Him we can do nothing, that
if we abide in Him everything will be given us, and that
if we keep His commandments we shall abide in Him.
To hold therefore that justification by works signifies
only justification in the sight of men, is equally antino-
mian and unscriptural.
I cannot end these observations without expressing my
conviction that most of the volumes written on this point
maintain a dispute on words only ; that there is no
vital difference between sincere Christians in the matter ;
and that if we could be persuaded to look on faith and
works as means to an end only, and that end, an union
with, and an abiding in Christ, (which is surely the
scriptural view of the subject,) the controversy, if not
altogether extinguished, would, at least, be deprived of all
its bitterness.

18
Note II.
ON the christian ministry.
A Divine, for whom I have the greatest personal regard,
for whose character and learning I cannot too highly ex
press my respect, and the only man who appears to
have entered on this controversy with the two indispensa
ble requisites, a competent knowledge of the subject, and
a Christian temper, has lately accused Polycarp and St.
Ignatius of departing from the spirit of the Scriptures,
and unduly exalting the Christian Ministry.
Were these holy men on the earth, they would be able
to give a very simple and satisfactory answer to these
charges, namely, " We were instructed hy St. John in these
matters.'''' But it may be said, that by rating the authority
of these Fathers so highly, we, in fact, invent another
Gospel for ourselves. Far from it,- — We only exercise
the duty of private judgment by humbly deferring to the
best commentators on the original document.
We take up the Gospel certainly without a desire or a
hope of obtaining a clearer view of the truth, than that
winch loas communicated hy the inspired writers themselves
to their friends and fellow labourers ; and we find texts
which exalt the authority of the Christian ministry as
highly as any expression used by St. Ignatius. We may,
it is true, adopt various explanations of these texts, and
all well suited to the Hberal spirit of the present hour.
We may take the pious non-conformist Baxter as our
guide, — we may adopt the opinions of Mr. Taylor, and
the dissenters in England, who would persuade us that
the knowledge of Christianity is still in its infancv ; or

19

listen to the same voice, echoed by Dr. Channing and the
Unitarians, from the opposite shores of the Atlantic.
But we prefer to all these, and a thousand other con
flicting authorities, the doctrine of him who was a friend
of St. John, and heard from his mouth the words of
truth. We listen to his teachings with the most earnest
attention, when he instructs the Churches he planted, and,
on the road to martyrdom, leaves them the precious legacy
of truth, which he had received from the Apostles, with a
charge to preserve and to transmit it. To such authority
we humbly and thankfully defer ; beheving, that by so
doing, we are following the legitimate teaching of Christian
humility, as well as the plain dictates of common sense,
and furthering, to the best of our power, the fulfilment of
our Saviour's earnest prayer for the unity of His Church,
If we would see how surely the adoption of a contrary
course leads to extreme error, we have only to consider
the notions of another class of men, of whom Dr. Arnold
is, perhaps, the most able representative. I mean those
who deny altogether the existence of a priesthood in our
Church ; because, when arraigned at the bar of their
philosophy, it is at once pronounced to be an institution
unworthy bf enlightened approbation, and evidently
founded on false and evil principles. This is strongly
maintained by Dr. Arnold, in the Appendix to his Ser
mons, published some time ago, and is there argued in
the true spirit of modern rationalism. As however no
sophistry can deny the direct appointment of God in the
case of the Jewish priesthood, his treatment of this part
of the subject is worthy of observation. It supphes a
curious instance of the reasoning principle, exercised, with
no little arrogance, upon matters somewhat too high for
B 2

20

its jurisdiction, but compelled, in the presence of the
Divine authority, to patronize that which it would be
manifestly impious to condemn. The Jewish priesthood is
therefore excused, not merely " as being typical of the
real and perfect Priest that was to come," but as being
" ordained as an accommodation to the notions and feel
ings of the age." It is acknowledged to be hereditary ;
but, at the same time, an offering is made at the shrine of
offended liberalism in the shape of a positive, but, surely,
unwarrantable assertion, that it was invested with this
character in order to meet " the universal feeling of the
East." Thus, the inscrutable purposes of the Most High
God are made to unveil themselves before the pride of
His creatures' intellect, and the works of His own imme
diate hand are dressed in a garb of human motives, lest,
when tried in the courts of human reason, they shoidd
not be acquitted of absurdity. Indeed, the whole Ap
pendix is a remarkable specimen of that rationalising
spirit, which, enthroning self upon the seat of judgment,
complacently accepts or irreverently rejects the various
parts of God's system, as they happen to be completely
intelligible, or not, to the carnal wisdom which presumes
to weigh them in its puny balance. When, however, we
speak thus of the abiHty of Dr. Arnold to execute the
task he has undertaken, let us in justice allow that he
was engaged in opposing legitimate tradition, a Catholic
doctrine in the true sense of the words, which has been
held semper, ubique et ab omnibus, namely, the apostohcal
succession of the ministry in the Christian Church.
The usual method of assaihng tradition is very different
from this ; its adversaries are, for the most part, accus-
. tomed to point nut the errors of individuals, and then to

21

exult in a supposed victory over the Church Catholic ;
whereas, their triumph has been, in reality, over their own
principle of private interpretation ; for, whenever the lan
guage of the Fathers appears inconsistent with Scripture,
it is always equally so with the teaching of primitive
tradition, and is to be attributed whoUy to the undue
exercise of private judgment in matters of faith. And
so it has happened, that if the greater part of the nume
rous writers, who have opposed the " Tracts for the
Times," instead of choosing some term expressive of their
hostility to tradition, had inscribed the words " not pri
vate judgment" on their title-pages, the phrase would
have been more german to the matter.

Note III.

oN MR. Cecil's reserve in communicating
religious knowledge.
I have been accused of making a statement with regard
to Mr. Cecil, which is likely to mislead those who are
ignorant of the real circumstances of the case. But so
far from it, I have not stated the case as regards Mr.
Cecil half so strongly as I might with truth have stated
it. I have received lately, gratuitously, from many bene
volent persons several tracts, written against the Authors
of the " Tracts for the Times," printed at Seely and Burn
side's, and professing to be third or fourth editions, in
which the main instruments of ofience have, first, been
extracts from " Froude's Eemains," (a most unfair

22

method of attack' on the Authors ofthe " Tracts for the
Times," in my opinion ;) and this charge, — that they
shunned to declare the lohole counsel of God. Now finding
that this was precisely the charge which was made
against Mr. Cecil when he first entered on his ministry
at St. John's Chapel, I stated the fact as plainly as I
could, and made as little comment on it as possible, for
I hold not with the doctrine of Eeserve myself, either in
theory or in practice ".
I had materials to write much more on the subject.
Mr. Cecil himself describes his conduct on entering on
his ministry at St. John's Chapel, precisely in the spirit
of the Tracts on Reserve. He says that his object was
" underground work ;" that " an outcry was raised
against him in the religious world ;" that he " sacrificed
the truth to his hearers^ His patroness had been a
few times, and withdrew herself and her servants from
his ministry ; some of thein " now and then stole in" to
hear him, but complained that they got " no food."
But he persevered, because he thought that he was
" proceeding in that system and way which seemed to
him best adapted, under God, to meet the state of his
people." " One friend alone stood by him." " A certain
brother preached a charity sermon in such a style as
seemed to say to me, Were I here, you should see how
I would do the thing," and the evil he did was apparent.
After all this, the argument that Mr. Cecil held not the
doctrine of Reserve, because at other times he insisted
strongly on preaching the Atonement, does not require
an answer. I am glad of an opportunity of stating this
' Vide Note VI. 2 Vide Note IV.

23

fact again ; for I never wish to recognize the existence of
two distinct parties in our Church ; and I think that the
calm consideration of this fact may tend to induce good
men to think more charitably of each other's faifings.
I assert this, then, as an historical fact, that the pious
and eloquent Mr. Cecil, when he entered on his ministry
in St. John's Chapel, acted precisely on that principle
of Reserve in communicating religious knowledge, which
has been advocated by the pious and learned authors of
the " Tracts for the Times ;" and that for advocating
this principle, on which Mr. Cecil acted, these men have
been most violently and indiscriminately condemned by
those who profess to agree with Mr. Cecil in his opinions;
and who do more, — who applaud the conduct of Mr.
Cecil when he first entered on his ministry, — and con
sider its wisdom proved by its success.
Is there, then, no difference between the reserve prac
tised by Mr. Cecil, and that which is advocated in the
"Tracts for the Times?"
Is it without a cause, that in the one case, the "outcry
of the religious world" is still, nay, changed into for
giveness and approbation ; in the other, it rages with
increasing violence ? No, there is a reason. Mr. Cecil
acted in this instance on his own opinion ; according to
the dictates of his own private judgment ; he did, in a
certain sense, what " was good in his own eyes." And
to men who, in religious matters, act on this principle,
(into whatever errors it may lead them,) the world is
very kind and forgiving.
The Authors of the "Tracts for the Times" advocated
Reserve, in accordance to what they deem the teaching
of the primitive Church of Christ, a principle, which, if

24

acted upon generally, would bring about the fulfilment of
the Saviour's prayer for Unity; and give irresistible
power to His kingdom on earth.
This principle the world hateth, and for those who act
on it, it has no forgiveness.

Note IV.
THE author's view OF RESERVE.
I HAVE been told by one on whose judgment I rely, that
I ought to explain what I mean by not holding with the
principle of Reserve, either in theory or practice, and I
shall give my opinion very reluctantly on so important a
subject, in the face of such authorities as Mr. Cecil and
the Authors of the " Tracts for the Times."
It appears then to me, that the texts from St. Paul as
to milk and strong meat, and the example of the Primitive
Church, do not apply to us when addressing our mixed
congregations ; that we can act in their spirit only in our
religious intercourse with individual parishioners; that
from the pulpit we should preach (always being careful
to maintain good works) Christ crucified, as the beginning,
the middle, and the end of our discourses : as the begin
ning, by convincing men of their need of an atonement,
under which head is included reasoning on temperance,
righteousness, and the judgment to come ; as the middle,
by persuading men to put their whole trust in that atone
ment ; and as the end, by impressing on their minds the
necessity of walking under the direction of the Holy
Spirit, as those should walk for whom Christ died : in other

25

words, I think that we must preach the whole counsel of
God (of which, what I have said, is of course but a very
imperfect sketch) and leave the awful responsibility with
our congregations of neglecting the Gospel thus preached.
At the same time, while I believe this to be the best, I
Icnow it to be the easiest and most popular method. And
far be it from me to join the vulgar and antlnomian cry
which has been raised against these men, of shunning to
declare the whole counsel of God. They place their
whole trust in the Atonement, and endeavour to lead their
hearers to do the same, by what they deem more kind,
more prudent, more primitive, and more scriptural
methods. I know them to be infinitely my superiors in every
Christian grace and virtue. Thrice happy is the lot of
those who sit at their feet to hear the word, and receive
from their hands the bread of life ; and though I dare not,
in this instance, imitate their example, I trust and believe
that they will bring many to Christ by these means, (as
Mr. Cecil is said to have done) through Him whose disci
ples they are, for they have taken up their cross and fol
lowed Him.

Note V.

ON MR. Cecil's holding the same opinions with
DR. PUSEY and the PRIMITIVE CHURCH AS TO THE
celibacy of the clergy.
There is a striking resemblance between Mr. Cecil's
opinions, and those of the authors of the " Tracts for the

26
Times" on many points. He had an instinctive preference
for primitive doctrine ; he preferred the preaching of St.
Chrysostom to that of Archbishop Leighton ; he had a
longing for a renovation of Christianity, but knew not
where to find it ; he held the same doctrine that Dr.
Pusey has expressed in his letter to the Bishop of Oxford,
on the celibacy of the Clergy, the holding of which has
been branded as a heresy by those who now profess to
venerate Mr. Cecil's opinions ; and there is little cause to
doubt that had Mr. Cecil lived in the present day, and
had the advantage of their information and learning (not
withstanding the snare of that popular eloquence with
which he was gifted), he would have broken through the
trammels of party, and identified himself with these men
as far as their teaching is the same with that of the
Primitive Church of Christ.
Mr. Ceed writes thus : " It seems to me, that many
men do not give sufficient weight to our Lord's observa
tions upon those who made themselves eunuchs for the
Kingdom of Heaven's sake, nor to St. Paul's reasoning
on the subject of marriage. I would only imply that
both our Lord and His Apostles seem to establish it as
a principle, that a single state, when it can be chosen,
and is chosen for the sake of the Gospel, is the superior
state. This I fear is too much forgotten, and those men
who might have received the saying, and have done more
service to the Church of God by receiving it, have given
it Httle or no weight in their deliberations."
Then, after shewing that in his own case and many
others, marriage was preferable, he adds, that "every
minister should always remember that, cceteris paribus,
he who remains single is most worthy of honor."

27

This extract is quite sufficient to show, that Mr. Cecil's
opinions are the same with Dr. Pusey's, with St. Cyprian's,
and those of the Primitive Church.
Though I have not had the benefit of a complete
Library of the Fathers, which the author of " Ancient
Christianity" has enjoyed, yet some of them, and among
the number, St. Cyprian, have been my companions for
many years, and I have read enough to know that the
obligatory vow of celibacy is an invention of comparatively
modern date, that the errors which Mr. Taylor has ex
posed (I am sorry to say, with no little coarseness and
exultation) are not the errors of ancient Christianity, but
of private judgment in ancient times, and that the Primi
tive doctrine, making allowance for the " present dis
tress," accordeth precisely with that of Dr. Pusey and
Mr. Cecil.

Note VI.

FIIOUDE S REMAINS.

The unfairness of these extracts from Froude's Re
mains consists in this, that these selected sentences are
circulated without any mention of the fact, that most of
them are the expressions of a young and ardent mind in
familiar conversation with his friends, — of a mind totally
absorbed by one master feeling ; namely, that of devoted
attachment to the doctrine and discipline of the Primitive
Church of Christ.
I will take one sentence, which is considered most
objectionable by Mr. Froude's adversaries, and which is

28

always placed in the first rank of the extracts from his
remains, as an example of the supposed folly and danger
of his opinions.
" The Reformation was a limb badly set ; it must be
broken again in order to be righted."
Let us state the same sentiment in other words, mak
ing a fair allowance for the manner in which a young
man might express his opinion in conversation.
The Reformation has not brought us back as nearly as
I could have wished to the doctrine and discipline of the
Primitive Church ; if ever that end be obtained, it must be
by another Reformation ; and were I certain that an
other Reformation would only have this effect, I should
most earnestly desire it. Now I put it to any candid
mind, whether, making the above-mentioned fair allow
ance, this paraphrase does not contain the meaning of
the extract, and whether such a meaning be not perfectly
consistent with the most sincere and steady adherence to
the Church of England ? I appeal, I say, to all candid
persons, I do not appeal generally to those who are the
authors of these attacks, for many of them are not mem
bers of our reformed Church ; they can have no objection
at all to see the limb broken again, they would protest
only against its being set in its primitive and natural
position of strength and beauty : they would prefer, in
deed, that it should be broken, and not set at all, that
they might give it a gentle pull, now on this side, and
now on the other, according to their several fancies ; and
would not be inconsolable, if, under this treatment, the
limb should mortify at last, and fall off entirely from the
body of the Church Catholic. — But enough of this.
Let those who are accustomed to judge of Froude's

29

Remains after the manner of the world, only read atten
tively Mr. Keble's preface to the last two volumes of that
work, and then let all who are able, allow themselves the
further use of bitter invective against one, who, though
dead, still speaketh to the hearts of thousands ; exhort
ing them to a more primitive, to a more vital, and to a
more self-denying profession of Christianity.

Note VII.
ON THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS.
Modern No-Popery declaimers upon hustings and plat
forms ' are in the habit, at such places, of descanting in
no measured terms, on what they doubtless prove, to
their own entire satisfaction, to be the errors and incon
sistencies of the ancient Fathers of our Church. I know
not, however, how they can for a moment expect to con
vert one pious Roman Catholic from a creed which they
thus identify (as far as their authority goes) with that of
the Primitive Church of Christ. Those indeed who prefer
Infidelity to Romanism, may consistently oppose the
• Some ladies in their rehgious puhlications, and certain clergymen
too, I am sorry to say, from their places on platforms, have irreverently
called the Apostolical Fathers " old women :" thus modestly asserting
their own conscious superiority in reUgious knowledge, and, with the
common error of little minds, adopting as their own, an expression of
Luther, which his real friends would wish to be forgotten. Such
persons, however, would do well to remember, that old women did not
set themselves up for teachers in the Primitive Church of Christ, — they
knew their station better.

30

latter on infidel principles, and borrow weapons from
Voltaire and Gibbon for that end. But I caH, with ear
nest confidence, on believers of all denominations, to avoid
such a joining of hands for any purpose. That the finger
of scorn has been pointed at the apostolical Fathers from
a difierent and highly respectable quarter; — that the
Christian Knowledge Society should have struck out
their names from a resolution which was submitted to its
consideration by the highest authority in our Church ; — is
a fact which every one who loves the memory of that
holy army of martyrs must deplore. May the men who
have done this, see their error ; — may they perceive, that
they have not asserted Reformation principles by so
doing; — -that Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, would never
have so acted, for they esteemed the writings of the
Apostolical Fathers second only in authority to the
Holy Scriptures, and on all difficult points of doctrine
consulted those writings, and deferred to them. They
always quoted the Apostolical Fathers as authorities,
conjointly with the Holy Scriptures, in all confiicts with
the Romanists ; and most wisely too, for they knew the
strength of our Church too well to give countenance, for
a moment, to the suspicion, that the charge of novelty
could be established against her, by any reference to
primitive antiquity. May such considerations as these,
have their weight, when the blinding excitement of party
feeling is over, and may those members of the Christian
Knowledge Society, who have put themselves forward on
this occasion, agree to give due honour to the holy men
who first planted the Church of which they are ministers,
and " were slain for the word of God, and the testimony
they held !"

31

If there be any among us, who, iii such discussions,
are prepared to give up a part of what they know to be
right, in order to smooth over present difficulties; I
would earnestly beseech them to consider, that no policy
will be so fatal to the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, or to the Church of England itself, at the
present perilous crisis, as the attempt to conciHate op
posing parties by a compromise of principle, on the plea
of expediency. The cause of those only, is irreparably
lost, who are persuaded to consent to their own dis
honour.

Note VIII.
ON THE PROSPECTS OF THE " TRACTS FOR THE TIMES."
The advice to which this note refers, appears at least to
be an admission on the part of a highly talented adver
sary, that the Authors of the " Tracts for the Times" have
nothing to fear from argument ; a conclusion at which, I
believe, all their opponents have, at length, reluctantly
arrived. The door of preferment wdll most probably re
main closed against them and their advocates ; but this
will constitute an appropriate trial of the strength of their
principles. What they need fear most, is that which they
most earnestly deprecate ; a hasty and superficial adop
tion of their opinions by careless persons. Were none to
profess their creed who did not follow their holy conver
sation, I beheve that gradually they would turn the hearts
of all religious persons (even of those who have com
mitted themselves most strongly on the other side), as the
heart of one man, to the pure creed of the Primitive

32

Church of Christ. Deeply pious men like Mr. Newton,
who scarcely know why they are not Dissenters, and are
continually casting about for all sorts of reasons to justify
to themselves their continuing in the Church, would find
motives in the " Tracts for the Times" which would bind
them to that Church with the cords of a man and the
bands of love. To men who, like Cecil, long for something
truer and deeper than the religion of the day, the " Tracts
for the Times," would point the way to it. One interest
however they could never conciliate, namely, that of the
Religious Publications of the day (whose hostility I have
mentioned in a former note '), for this reason, that they
owe their existence to their success in exciting, fostering,
and perpetuating differences between religious men. It
is difficult to estimate the effect they have in this respect
on the best among us. He who constantly reads the
violent effusions of these party papers, can scarcely guard
himself against imbibing, in some degree, their pernicious
spirit. On the public mind, so far from promoting a
religion of peace and unity, they act only as weekly and
monthly temptations to evil-speaking and evil-thinking.
It is no wonder that such publications have endeavoured
to excite an universal feeling of enmity against the authors
of the " Tracts for the Times ;" for if once unity and
concord were established on the same principles in ours
as they were in the Primitive Church, their occupation
would be gone.
It is in vain, that Mr. Newman, Dr. Pusey, and Mr.
Keble exhibit in their lives and in their writings the truest
spirit of Christianity. It is in vain, that they manifest
this Christian spirit on the most trying occasions, and
1 Vide Pages 7 and 8.

33

form such a contrast to that displayed by their opponents
when brought into contact with the powers that be, as to
convince all, that are capable of being convinced, of the
practical working of the principles they inculcate. The
rancour of these pubhcations (as they are at present con
ducted), must remain unchanged, for the spirit of him
who sends them forth is thus well described by a learned
and pious man : "No faith, no virtue, no charity, no
devotion, will ever charm that deaf adder into a good
opinion of any one saint upon earth ; but their failings,
their infirmities, their omissions, their mistakes, are the
objects of all his attention and vigilance." The men who
are thus attacked, however, " think nothing of angry
newspapers, or of mere pohtical declamation ;" and I can
not but hope, that every charge which is brought against
them, will, when calmly investigated, tend to endear
them more and more to all those " who love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity." Had not some former friend
kindly accused Mr. Newman of violating Church dis
cipline by mixing the water with the wine, we might
never have known his pious custom of administering,
early in the morning, the Holy Communion of his blessed
Redeemer's body and blood.

THE END.

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